Robotics & Automation News

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Open letter: Robotics companies call on policymakers not to weaponize robots

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A group of leading robotics companies have sent an open letter to policymakers calling on them not to weaponize robots.

The letter was released by Boston Dynamics in collaboration with Agility Robotics, ANYbotics, Clearpath Robotics, Open Robotics and Unitree Robotics.

The letter, which is published in full below, brings together leading companies in the mobile robotics space to pledge to not weaponize their general purpose robots or the software they develop that enables advanced robotics. [Read more…] about Open letter: Robotics companies call on policymakers not to weaponize robots

American Manufacturers ‘ready to help’ cope with disruption caused by coronavirus

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American Manufacturers say they are “ready to help” cope with the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

CEOs of companies facing global supply chain challenges can find local solutions with US suppliers, declared five American manufacturing trade associations in an open letter to CEOs.

US trade associations representing more than 3,500 companies in industries that employ more than 475,000 Americans have made the pledge to support the industry. [Read more…] about American Manufacturers ‘ready to help’ cope with disruption caused by coronavirus

Campaign to Stop Killer Robots sends peace envoy robot to United Nations

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The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots – an actual political and social group run mostly by humans – has sent a peace envoy robot to deliver a letter to the United Nations building in New York, in the US.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the campaign group will give UN diplomats a letter in which it is demanding that the world stops the development of autonomous war machines.

These can include, but are not limited to, technologies such as drones, tanks and other other machinery controlled by an autonomous computer which is running artificial intelligence systems that decide whether to kill people or not. [Read more…] about Campaign to Stop Killer Robots sends peace envoy robot to United Nations

US footwear manufacturers call for Trump to end new China tariffs

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More than 200 footwear manufacturers in the US have sent President Donald Trump an open letter calling for an end to what they call the “catastrophic” and “unfathomable” new tariffs on Chinese imports. 

The companies include global and household names such as Adidas, Cat, Converse, K-Swiss, Nike, Puma, Ugg, and Under Armour, among many others.

The letter was sent under the auspices of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, the leading industry association, representing a total of 500 companies and brands worldwide. [Read more…] about US footwear manufacturers call for Trump to end new China tariffs

President Barack Obama appoints GM CEO Mary Barra to advisory panel on self-driving cars

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General Motors CEO Mary Barra.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra

US President Barack Obama has appointed General Motors chief executive Mary Barra to a newly created advisory committee on self-driving cars, and critics are already saying she should be the first person to whom the incoming president, Donald Trump, should say: “You’re fired.” 

Consumer advocates called on President-elect Donald Trump to make Barra his first firing and remove her as co-chairman of the newly created Department of Transportation Advisory Committee on Automation in Transportation.

In a letter to Trump, Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, John Simpson, the group’s privacy project director, and Joan Claybrook, chair of Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways, wrote: “As you know, robot cars, trucks, drones and other technology threaten to replace tens of millions of American jobs, pose a danger to the safety of our roads and public spaces, and come with significant privacy and security threats.

“We should not allow the robot makers alone to oversee the safety of vehicles coming out of robot factories, but the Obama Administration’s eleventh hour appointments do just that.”  [Read more…] about President Barack Obama appoints GM CEO Mary Barra to advisory panel on self-driving cars

Apple more or less confirms autonomous car project in letter to US government

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By David Shepardson, Reuters

Apple is wading in to the debate over regulation of self-driving cars, declaring it is excited about the potential for automated transportation and calling on US regulators not to restrict testing of such vehicles.

A five-page letter from Steve Kenner, Apple’s director of product integrity, to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is the company’s most comprehensive statement yet about its interest in self-driving vehicle technology.

The November 22 letter followed more than a year of industry speculation about the computer and iPhone maker’s plans for expanding into transportation.  [Read more…] about Apple more or less confirms autonomous car project in letter to US government